Guardian Angel
by PocketMartin
Summary: Dean gets knocked unconscious when hitting his head swimming and a mysterious stranger saves him. Dean tries to find his savior again after he is released from the hospital but he can't. Will he ever find his guardian angel again?
1. Chapter 1

Summer after sophomore year of college, Dean planned on spending a month at home. He had been busy working at college and hadn't visited home too much, and his mother had been complaining that she hadn't seen him enough. Which is how Dean Winchester ended up back in his home town, preparing a beach trip with his younger brother Sam.

Sam had done most of the planning, but Dean was going to drive them both down to their favorite beach that they used to always go to when they were kids. It was a small beach, nothing special. It was nothing like the ocean, that was for sure. But the small fresh water lake was never too busy and had a great view.

So, on Saturday, the boys piled into the impala and headed out to their beach.

They packed two towels, a couple of sandwiches and snacks, water, and a Frisbee. It was a perfect day and they didn't want to waste any of it.

Half way through the day, the brothers were sitting on the farthest of the floating docks that encompassed the swimming area, with their feet in the water.

"Hey I bet you I could touch the bottom." Dean said, nudging Sam.

"Yeah, sure, Dean." Sam sarcastically agreed.

"You don't believe me?"

Sam gave Dean bitch face #5,018.

"Fine then." Dean said, standing up on the dock. "Watch this." And then he dived into the water.

Sam rolled his eyes. '_He is such a show off sometimes.' _He thought to himself, rolling his eyes.

It was almost a minute when he saw Dean shooting back up to the surface. But Dean wasn't coming up straight. Sam didn't realize it until Dean was too close, but Dean ended up under the dock. Sam laid down on the dock and tried to reach for Dean under the dock.

Dean wasn't reaching back though. Dean's eyes were closed and he wasn't moving.

Sam panicked. He jumped off and dragged Dean from under the dock. He got Dean to the surface of the water, but he couldn't get Dean up onto the dock.

"Come on you jerk." Sam grumbled with panic in his voice. He knew he needed help though and shouted out. "Help! Some one help!"

There weren't many people around, but Sam heard splashing water. Someone must be swimming towards them.

He turned around, with Dean still in his arms, unconscious, and saw a guy swimming towards them.

The guy plucked Dean from Sam's arms and pulled Dean up. The man didn't seem very strong, but he got Dean up onto the dock with relative ease. Perhaps he was a lifeguard.

He pulled himself up next to Dean and started to perform mouth-to-mouth.

Sam was thankful for this man's help. He must be a lifeguard with all the knowledge he has for saving Dean.

All of a sudden, Sam heard Dean choking.

Dean turned on his side to let out the water that had gotten into his lungs. He tried to sit up a bit but was stopped by a strangers hand on his chest. But what really stopped him was the deep blue, familiar gaze of his savior.

"You need to go to the hospital." Said the blue-eyed man, who was looking at the top of Dean's head.

Sam looked to where the man was. Blood. Dean's head was bleeding. A lot.

"Shit." Sam said. "Some one call 9-1-1!"

Dean felt his head, and saw his head come back covered in blood. He knew that head wounds bled much more than any other wound, but the blood loss caught up with him, and he fell back into unconsciousness.

Dean blinked his eyes open slowly, only to be met with pure white brightness. The light made Dean wince. He let his eyes adjust to the light as he looked around. He was in a hospital bed.

He was hooked up to 2 machines. One giving him blood and one keeping up with his heart rate.

"What happened?" Dean mumbled, realizing his throat was dry. He coughed a bit.

"Dean! You're awake. Finally." Sam said, rushing over to Dean's side. "Mom and Dad are one their way. You're gonna be fine."

"Dude, shut up. What happened?"

"Dean you almost drowned."

Then everything came back to him. Well almost everything. Dean remembered the bet and not watching where he was swimming, and then seeing the blue eyes of the guy who helped him. For such bright, unique eyes, they almost seemed familiar to Dean.

"Right. And I hit my head." Dean said, feeling at the bandages around his head. _'Maybe they only seemed familiar because I hit my head and they reminded me of the water…'_ Dean thought.

"Yeah."

"What happened to that guy?"

"What guy?"

"The guy who saved me? Mister Blue Eyes?"

"Mister Blue Eyes?" Sam chuckled.

"What? That's all I remember of him. That and he saved me." Dean said, a bit defensively.

"Oh yeah. I dunno. After the firemen got there, they kinda ushered everyone away, and when the paramedics got to you, it was hard for even me to stay with you. He probably got lost in the crowd. The paramedics were saying that guy was your guardian angel though. No one knew who he was, but they say that without him helping you, you may have died."

"Oh." '_Guardian angel huh?' _Dean thought to himself. Then he said, "Wait, firemen? I was drowning. That's kinda the opposite of a fire."

"Yeah, so? Firemen are usually the first on any emergency scene." Sam said matter-of-factly. "Anyway, in the ambulance, they patched you up pretty well and then I called mom and dad. They should be here any minute. You've only been unconscious for…about…" Sam looked at the clock, "about 20 minutes, including when you were passed out on the beach."

"Sammy, wouldja stop rambling. You're giving me a headache." Dean said, pointing to his bandaged head, hoping for some sympathy.

"Oh, right, sorry." Sam said. They sat for a minute in semi-awkward silence before their parents walked in.

After they walked in, it was the usual parental concern and scolding for being to reckless.

Dean had to spend the night to make sure that he got enough blood back in his system and to have doctors check up on him and make sure he was fine. The next day, he was discharged and went home, only to be confined to his bed.

He wanted to go out. He was sick of being stuck in bed and just wanted to outside. He wanted to find Mister Blue Eyes and thank him for saving his life.

When Dean told Sam about how he thought the man seemed familiar, Sam just said that the guy was probably a lifeguard at the beach and Dean has seen him there before. Which would explain why he knew exactly what to do. Dean thought otherwise, though. Their beach rarely has a real lifeguard since it isn't that popular.

But, it was a start. And on the first day that his parents would let him, he walked down to the beach. It was a long walk, but it was a peaceful day and he couldn't drive on the pain meds he was on.

Just as he suspected, there was no lifeguard there, but that didn't mean he couldn't ask around. He was about to ask someone about his 'guardian angel', when he realized he didn't know much about the guy. He had blue eyes, dark hair (could have been dark brown or black, Dean wasn't sure) and was about Dean's age. That could be anyone. But that voice. The guy had a strangely deep voice. Dean knew that if he heard it again, he would know.

He walked about the beach aimlessly, hoping he could over hear a conversation and recognize his voice. But there was no luck.

Dean decided to pop into some of the shops around the beach. Perhaps the guy was a tourist and would be window-shopping or something.

Dean spent the whole day wondering about from shop to shop and was exhausted before the sun even set. He checked his watch and realized he had to be home for dinner soon anyway.

Maybe they would run into each other some how before summer ended. Dean hoped they would but realized that it was unlikely.

Dean tried to stop thinking about his mystery savior, but he couldn't stop thinking about his hypnotic eyes or commanding voice.

Summer was almost over, and Dean still hadn't found his Mister Blue-Eyes, but Sam had found an infinite amount of ways to tease Dean about his crush. Dean tried to deny it, but Sam wouldn't let him. Either way though, it didn't matter, because Dean never found him again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: queso is a cheese dip for chips and it is HEAVENLY. Trust me. Try it. Eat it. Love it. And yes this is relevant to the story. *pronounced kay-so**

It was only a month into junior year at college and Dean was already drowning in work again. His classes had already moved past the 'welcome back to school. I know you're all lazy from summer, so we'll go easy on you' phase. He had 2 papers due in less than a week and was only half way done with one of them.

"Essays suck." He spoke aloud to no one in particular. He was hanging out in his friend Ash's dorm with a few other guys. Some were doing work and some were goofing off, but Dean had come to see Ash for essay help. He didn't know how to write his paper for his lit class, and Ash knew freakin' everything.

"Come on, man, they could be worse." Ash said offhandedly. "Why don't you finish up that page now because I'm thinking a party tomorrow night."

"Didn't you just go to one a few days ago?" Said one of the guys, who was sitting on the floor playing Black Ops on the Xbox.

"So?" Ash asked, writing something on his laptop. "I got just the place. We just need supplies." Ask looked at Dean.

"What?" Dean said, looking up from his laptop. "I'm not doing anything."

"Yeah you are. Just go to the store and pick up party food. I'll give you the cash. You just have to go." Dean was about to ask why Ash didn't just go himself, but Ash cut him off. "I don't want to go, so I'm just making you go." Dean thought to himself a moment before Ash said, "Don't make me blackmail you man."

This prompted Dean to reply with a quick, "Okay, I'll go in an hour, when I'm done with this." Dean didn't know what Ash had for blackmail, but it was Ash, so Dean knew he had something.

After finishing up his essay (he'll edit it all later), Dean grabbed his jacket, keys, and wallet and headed out to the nearby market. Ash had given him quite the list, which Dean was supposed to pick up.

Halfway through his shopping, Dean got a bit confused. He was supposed to pick up queso for the chips, but he couldn't find it. He checked the aisles that he thought it would be in but couldn't find it.

After searching through a couple more aisles, he decided to head back to the first one that he thought it would be in, but wasn't watching where he was looking.

He turned the corner into the aisle and accidentally hit someone else's cart.

"Oh sorry! I wasn't watching where I was...going..." Dean said, trailing off as he looked at the stranger. Dean recognized him a bit, but wasn't sure from where.

"It's fine. I too was not paying attention. We are equally at fault." The man's voice was deep and familiar. Just like his eyes.

"Wait. Do I…know you?" Right as the words fell out of his mouth, Dean realized where he knew this guy from. "You're the guy who saved my life weren't you?"

"Uh…I…" The man awkwardly stuttered. Stuttering is usually awkward, but it was exceptionally so because it seemed as if this man never stuttered.

"I'd recognize your voice anywhere." Dean said, as if supplying evidence to his claim.

The man was still speechless.

Dean didn't know what to do, so he introduced himself. "I'm Dean, by the way." He said, holding out his hand for the man to take, which he did, hesitantly.

"Hello Dean. I am Castiel." The man, Castiel, replied, seeming to have finally found his voice.

"Cool name." Dean said, taking his hand back.

"Thank you."

"I should be the one doing the thanking here. After I got out of the hospital, I meant to find and thank you, but I didn't know anything about you. So, I couldn't find you.

"Well it is the thought the matters." Castiel said, smiling slightly. His eyes were bright and Dean knew they were the same bright blue eyes. There was no denying it now.

"But I mean, this explains why I thought you were familiar." Castiel looked confused, so Dean continued. "When I woke up on the dock, your face seemed familiar. I must've just remembered seeing you here or something. I didn't know you, but I knew your face. Not that I see you all the time or anything, it's just that I've probably seen you around before." Dean realized he was rambling but felt he couldn't stop. "Do you know what I mean?"

"Yes. I suppose so." Castiel answered.

"Sorry. Well, thanks for saving my life." Dean said, smiling. "I'll see you around then?"

"We will probably run into each other again." Castiel said.

As Dean passed him though, he didn't want to just run into him again. Castiel seemed like a strange guy, but he seemed pretty cool. Dean couldn't let him escape again.

"Wait! Actually, uh, my friend, Ash, is having a party tomorrow. You wanna maybe come along?" Dean said awkwardly.

Castiel looked at Dean for a moment before nodding. "Sure. Where will it be held?"

"Oh…I…don't know." Dean replied slowly.

"Why don't I give you my number then, and when you do know, you can tell me." Castiel offered plainly. It didn't seem like he was trying to hit on Dean, but Dean hoped he was.

"Sure."

They swapped numbers before splitting up again. Dean went back to his shopping, beginning his quest for queso once again, only to look down and find it right on the bottom shelf next to where he and Castiel had been standing for almost five minutes.

Dean sighed with a smile on his face. _'It was so easy to miss, but it was right there_.' Dean thought to himself as he picked up the can and continued shopping.

Inviting Castiel was probably one of the highlights of the whole party for Dean.

After getting back from his supply run, Dean had asked Ash for the details for the party, and had texted Castiel as soon as he could. Which then dissolved into a lighthearted conversation between the two. Castiel had even indirectly reminded Dean to tell Sam that he did end up finding Mister Blue Eyes. This meant that Sam only mocked Dean further, but Dean didn't care that much anymore.

Apparently, Castiel was going to school nearby and was a junior too. Except he was studying Physics.

At the party, however, Dean just couldn't wait for Cas to arrive so they could talk again in person. Although Dean had only known Cas for roughly a day, they seemed to fit well together. They weren't extraordinarily similar, but they somehow still liked each other.

When Cas did get to the house (that was off campus because they wanted a nice big lot to work with), Dean called him over the minute he saw him. He introduced him to Ash and Benny. They fell into a comfortable conversation until Ash had to leave and stop someone from setting something on fire, and had them set off fireworks instead. Benny had run off with a pretty girl he saw walk by, so Dean and Cas were left alone.

"Wanna drink?" Dean offered.

"Yes. Thank you." Cas said, following Dean to the kitchen. Dean pulled a couple beers from the fridge and was about to give one to Cas when Ash strolled in.

"Nope. Don't drink these. Trust me." Ash said quickly, without pause, and snatching the cans from Dean's hands. And then he was gone as quickly as he came.

"Water then?" Dean said, jokingly.

"Are you sure?" Cas said straight faced.

"…..Yes…?" Dean replied, unsure of what Cas was asking.

"I'm just not sure if you should be around water, seeing as last time I saw you around water, it didn't go over very well." Cas said, with just a slight hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Dean burst out laughing. "Nice, Cas." He said, pouring water into a couple of empty red plastic cups.

But it was barely a moment later when they were interrupted again, but this time by Dean's old friend Bela.

"Hey Dean. How are you doing tonight?" She said with an obviously inclination in her voice that Dean picked up on.

"Just fine. Thanks." Dean said rather curtly. He had already been down that road with Bela and did not wish to do so again.

"Yeah, you sure are looking fine tonight."

"…Don't objectify me." Dean said, folding his arms a little awkwardly since he still had his cup in his hand.

"Who's your friend?" Bela said, already moving to a new topic.

"I am Castiel." Cas replied. "I'm the one who gripped Dean tight and saved him from drowning."

Bela gave the guy a strange look at his odd choice of words, but said nothing else on the matter. It looked like she was about to hit on him though, and Dean got suddenly jealous. He moved a bit closer to Cas, and then Bella gave Dean a strange look. Dean meant to give her a glance that meant 'stay away because I don't like you that much.' But she seemed to take the glance in another direction.

"Oh. Sorry. I didn't realize…I didn't know…well…that's interesting." Was all she got out before sauntering away. Dean was slightly confused by her reaction, but she left either way, so he didn't care too much.

After the encounter, the party went pretty normally. Dean continued to introduce Cas his friends, and they all got along well. They hung out for the rest of the party until Cas had to leave.

"I must go Dean. I do have a presentation to prepare for, and I shouldn't stay out too late." Cas said, uncharacteristically loudly, only so Dean could hear him over the noise of the rest of the people.

"Sure, that's fine." Dean said. He wished Cas could stay longer, but he understood. "Wait, uh, do you want a ride back to your dorm? I mean if you didn't drive. It must be a long bus ride." Dean wasn't completely sure where that question came from, but now that he had said it, there was no taking it back. Not that he wanted to.

"That would be very kind of you Dean." Cas said as they both headed to the door to leave.

Dean gave Ash a wave to let him know he was leaving. Benny was standing next to him and gave Dean a wink before going back to talking with Ash.

Dean wasn't completely sure what the wink was for, but ignored it. He didn't understand half of Benny's old Southern phrases anyway.

The ride to Cas' dorm was pretty quiet except for directions from Cas and the rumble of the engine. It was comfortable though.

When they pulled up to the curb, ending their drive, Cas did not get out right away. Dean turned off the engine and looked to Cas, who was already looking back. They held each others' gaze for a moment before Cas broke the silence.

"Thank you for inviting me." Cas said quietly.

"Anytime." Dean answered, but couldn't help but lean towards Cas. He wasn't alone though. He could tell that Cas was mirroring his actions and after only a breath more, their lips touched. But only for a short moment before they pulled away slightly.

"Thank you for the ride." Cas said, even quieter as he kissed Dean again, but harder this time. It was still a short kiss, but much more passionate.

It was only another moment before Cas opened the door to get out. He lingered in the open door for a moment later, before leaning down and saying, "Thank you for finding me."

Dean smiled and replied, "What can I say, I had to find my guardian angel."

Dean watched Cas to make sure he got back into his dorm safely before driving away. But he couldn't stop smiling the whole way home.

He knew that Sam would never stop teasing him about find his guardian angel, but Dean wouldn't deny his crush anymore. And either way, he wasn't going to let Cas slip through his fingers again.

The End.


End file.
